Container filling machine with means to control the level of fill



June 4, 1957 v C. L. DAY El' AL CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE WITH MEANS TO CONTROL THE LEVEL OF FILL Filed June 11, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lll/ A 7 ifilll m 4, .o 6

CouNTER-PR Essuneus nd LuwouT STAGE NEUTRAL STAGE Rudolph JLBgeebflck, BY

MAM]

June 4, 1957 c. l. DAY ETAL CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE WITH MEANS TO CONTROL THE LEVEL OF FILL Filed June 11, 1952 3 Sheets-5heet 2 .m O W. A E n m.

MLM

*Cn/VLM M ATTORNEYS.

June 4, 1957 c. L. DAY ETAL 2,794,455

CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE WITH MEANS TO CONTROL THE LEVEL OF FILL Filed June 1l, 1952 3 Shets-Sheet 3 formly controlled.

United lStates Patent C l CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE WITH MEANS T CONTROL THE LEVEL 0F FILL Carl L. Day and Rudolph H. Breeback, Baltimore, Md.,

assignors to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York Application .lune 11, 1952, Serial No. 292,882

20 Claims. (Cl. 141-234) The present invention relates to container filling machines.

In the lling of containers with carbonated liquids, including beer, it is desirable to so handle the filling opera tion that the height of filling can be accurately and uni- It heretofore has been proposed to control the height of the filling by means of a ball oat adapted to be closed by rising liquid. However, it has been found that some types ofA foam, especially beer foam, may lift the float to closed position, with the result that the actual height of the liquid has little control upon the ball iioat. I

An object of the present invention is to provide a fillingk head wherein the height of filling will be determined only bythe actual height of the liquid in the container.

.It frequently is desirable to also include a oat valve in the venting passage to thereby assure that no excessive amount of liquid and foam can rise in the venting passage to interfere with the filling of the next container placed under the filling head. The invention contemplates use of a oat valve adapted to be closed by an excessive rise of liquid,.the oat valve being positioned above the filling height control.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means to-control the height of filling and which means is readily adjustable to vary the height of filling.

In the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein, the height controlling means comprises a collar forming the lower end of the vent passage through which air and gas in the container are vented from the container during the vinflow of liquid. By having the collar threaded to the underside of the filling head, its vertical position with respect to the filling head readily can be adjusted to control the height of filling to a very accurate degree.

, Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the height of filling canl be controlled 4by adjustment of the vertical position of the container with respect to the filling head. Y

Itheretofore has been common practice to' lift containers into sealed engagement with a filling head so that th'efilling operation can be performed while the container'is sealed tothe filling head. We have discovered that by'providing a compressible member to engage the container and adjusting the lifting movement of the container, the height of filling readily can be controlled. .Forv example, if the lifting of the container is .performed by a vertically -reciprocable Vcontainer supporting platform lifted by fluid pressure, a slight increase in thev lifting the height of filling lto be slightly reduced.

Other objects and advantages of the inventionwill be apparent from thefollowing specification and accorn- I panying drawings.

In theY drawings, Y Figure 1 is a front elevation of a filling head of the present invention and showing a can supported` on a con-Y Patented June 4, 1957 tainer supporting platform in alignment with the filling head.

Figure 2 is a vertical section through the filling head of Figure l, the view showing the iiow passages aligned for filling.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the lower portion of the filling head showing a can initially engaged with the gasket of the head.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 3 and showing the can further lifted.

Figure 5 is an exploded View showing a fragment of the filling head together with parts forming the height control means, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary View in axial section of a filling table and showing means for controlling the lifting of the container supporting platforms.

The filling head of the present invention includes a body 10 having a gasket 12 inserted in its outer circular face so that the outer surface 14 of the gasket thereby forms the seat face of the body 10. The body 10 will be se-V cured to the periphery of the reservoir carrying superstructure of a filling machine in a manner such as described in the application of Rudolph H. Breeback for Filling Head, Serial No. 213,950, filed March 5, 1951.

The disc-type valve 16 of the filling head is rotatable upon a stud 18 projecting centrally from the seat face 14. In accordance with'usual practice, the body 10 and disc valve 16 will be provided with flow passages adapted to be aligned orV non-aligned by movement of the disc valve 16 through the several positions indicated in dotted lines in Figure l to first establish counterpressure in a container to be filled, then cause liquid to flow into the container while the air and gas in the container is delivered to the upper portion of the filling reservoir, and thereafter close the passages. Then the container will be lowered from the filling head, and the disc valve 16 may be moved |to counterpressure position to cause gas to iiow from the reservoir through the venting passages to thereby clear those passages of any foam or liquid before another conice . tainer is moved upwardly into engagement with the filling` head.

Each filling head of the machine will have a containerV supporting platform 20 in `alignment therewith, the container supporting platforms being vertically reciprocable in the filling table 22 to thereby raise and lower containers, such as the illustrated can C, with respect to the filling head. As is described in Robert J. Stewart et al. Patent No. 2,202,033, issued May 2S, 1940, the container sup-A porting platforms may be moved downwardly by a cam such as 24 (Figure 6) fixed in the path of rotation of the filling table 22, the platforms being raised by the' action of compressed air or other fluid. Ias is illustrated in Figure 6, and as is described in said Stewart et al. patent, each filling platform 20 is mounted on the upper end of a cylinder 28 which is vertically reciprocable upon tub-e 30 extending upwardly from a circular Vmanifold 32 secured to the rotatable til-ling table. A source of compressed air such las the tank 34 may be secured beneath the filling' table 22 to rotate with the latter, and tank 34 is connected to manifold 32 by a tube` 36 which is so curved upwardly that it will clear the cam 24 during rotation with table 22. As also is described in said Stewart et al. patent, during the time that a container supporting platform 2li is adjacent the front or xed work table of the machine, the roller 26 carried on the cylinder of that platform will be in engagement with the lower Ysurface of the cam 24 so that the platform 20 thereby will be lowered to have a filled can removed therefrom Iand an empty can placed thereon. Thereafter, as the tableV 20 continues to rotate, roller 26 will move out of engagement with cam 24 so that theY pressurein the manifold 32 andtubes 30 quickly raise platform v ln more detail,`

of the reservoir.

20 through the positions illustrated in Figures l, 2 and 3 so that the mouth of the can Will be brought into sealed engagement with the filling head as indicated in Figure 4 so that the lilling cycle may begin.

.As will be clear from the above, the body ofthe lilling head of the present invention includes a liquid passage 40 opening to its seat face and connected by a pipe 42 to the liquid containing portion of the iilling reservoir. Another and right-angled passage 44extends from the seat face 14 downwardly through an aligned passage 46 in the can adapter 48 secured to the lower portion of the body 10 by a collar 50. Passage 46 has a filling nozzle 52 threaded therein. lt will be observed that the filling head under discussion diers from that of said Breeback application in that the present filling head has the passa-ge 46 slightly #forward of the central axis of the depending portion 47 of the body 10. Also, the present head 1t) includes a can engaging adapter 48. Features of the can adapter 4S are particularly involved in the present invention.

The liquid passages 40 and 44 are adaptedto be aligned during the filling stage by a passage 54 in the disc valve element 16. Y

The filling head body 10 also includes a gas passage 56 ropening'to its seat face, 15 and communicating with a pipe S8 leading to the upper and gas containing'portion The numeral 60 designates a Yright angled gas passage leading from vthe seat face 14 to an aligned passage 62 in the adapter 4S and which opens to a float chamber 64 as hereinafter described. During the filling stage of the lling cycle, theV passages 56 and 60 will ee placed in communication with each other by a passage66 in the disc valve 16. Because the liquid ilow passages will `at that moment be bridged by the disc valve passage 54, beer or other liquid being filled in the containers will flow-through the liquid passages and into the can from nozzle 52 while the air and Vcounterpressure gas in the can will be returned to the upper portion of the filling reservoir through the passages 60, 66, 56, and pipe 58. It will be understood that in accordance with usual practice, the lling head may include other gas passages through which counterpressure ow into the container will occur and that, during counterpressure, the liquid flow passages will be closed.

As is described in said Breeback application, disc valve 16 will be rotated to the above-mrentioned ow positions by trips spaced about the path of rotary travel of filling table 22, the trips engaging the arms 16a and 16b of the valve. I

YReferring now to the can adapter 48, this is of sucient overall diameter torrerceive the open mouth M of a at topped can C. Adapter 48 includes `a relatively resilient and compressible sealing ring or gasket 70 of suicient diameter to engage the upper edge or flange M of the can C. Gasket 70 is held in position upon the adapter 48 by means of a sleeve 72 secured to the adapter 48 by means of machine screws 74 extending downwardly through enlarged bosses on the adapter 48 and into the threaded sockets of corresponding enlargements 76 of sleeve 72. The gasket 70 includes a ange `at its upper end adapted to rest `upon an inwardly extending flange or shoulder 78 provided immediately below the upper end of sleeve 72. As is disclosed in Bondurant Patent No. 2,082,534, issued June l, 1937, the inner surface of sleeve 72 lmay be cut away to normally provide a space 80 into which gasket 70 may protrude when the gasket is pressed upwardly by a can.

It will be observed that the inner, lower surface 82 of sleeve 72 ilares outwardly to tend to guide the mouth M of a can into alignment with the lower end of gasket 70 and that the lower end of gasket 70 normally Will be slightly above the upper end of the flared portion 82. Moreover, the outer portion 84 of the lower end of gasket 70is inclined upwardly and outwardly at an angle such asV indicated in the drawings to thereby assure that the wall 90. Space SS'forms a relatively large area to accom Y rnodate foam upon the surface of the beer and also to cooperate with the can C to create a headspace area as hereinafter described.

As is best illustrated in Figures 2 and 5, the recess 64 of adapter 48 to which gas passage 62 opens is of cylindrical form and extends upwardly from the wall 90. The top wall of recess 64 is curved and a sleeve 91 is fitted in an enlargement of passage 62 which opens directly to the upper cen-tral portion of recess 64. As shown in Figure 5, the lower end of sleeve 91 is beveled to form a valve seat. A cage 94 including downwardly and inwardly projecting ribs 96 is fitted in recess 64 to support a ball lioat valve 98. A collar 100 including an inwardly tapered surface engages the lower portion of the ribs 96 to thereby hold them in proper position and' restrict the lower end of the ball oat containing area or recess 64. Collar. 100 is welded in the lower end of l recess 64 and has a vent controlling collar or nipple 102v threaded therein, the central bore 103 of collar 102 be'- ing of relatively reduced diameter, for example, about 1A; of an inch.

flush with the lower end of the flange 86. As is hereinafter described, the position of collar 102 may be adjjusted to thereby control the height of filling. n In the operation of the structure described above, andv particularly the adapter 48, when a can C is moved upvwardly. by a filling platform 20, the mouth M of the can will Yenter sleeve 72 to initially come into engagement with gasket 70 as indicated in Figure 3. ing of the platform 20 continues, the can will reach a position relative to the gasket such as indicated in solid lines in Figure 4. Because the gasket 70 is resilient and highly compressible, the upward -movement of the can will cause the gasket to expand laterally into the space in collar 82. The can will now be in fully sealed re-V Immediately thereafter, by the usual operation of the filling machina,

lation with respect to the filling head.

valve 16 will be rotated from Neutral stage Figure Vl to Counterpressure stage so that counterpressure will flow into the can through the passage 62 of the adapter and pastrthe then lowered ball 98 and through collar 102. If desired, other counterpressure flow passages also may be provided. Then the disc valve 16 will be moved;

to Filling stage wherein passages will be aligned as indicated in Figure 2 so that the liquid will ilo'w in'to the can through the nozzle 52 while the air and gas inthe can will vent to the upper portion of the lling reservoir through collar 102, between the ribs 96 of cage 94, and past ball 98 tothe reservoir.

As the beer and any surplus foam rise in the can, thev foam may accumulate in the space 88 and some foam may move upwardly in the vent collar 102into recess 64. However, because ball 98 is aboveY the restricted collar 102, it will not readily be accessible to foam. When theV level of the beer rises to the lower end of the venting collar 102, beer no longer can rise in thecan though of collar 102, such beer may move downwardly into the,

can when the can is subsequently lowered. Because of It will be observed from Figure that:- the lower end of collar 102 is positioned substantially As the lifti the small size of the bore 103, such beer will not result n overlling to any substantial extent.

As is explained in said Bondurant patent, the can willV lower to a marked extent from the sealed position indicated in solid lines in Figure 4, for example, by a distance of about 1/8 to of an inch, before the mouth M of the can moves out of sealed relation with the gasket 70. Therefore, before the can breaks away from the gasket, the headspace above the surface of the liquid in the can and including the space 88 in adapter .48 will enlarge in volume to thereby reduce the pressure within the headspace. This reduction in pressure will lower the -headspace pressure to a point more closely approximating the atmospheric pressure existing exteriorly `of the can. As a result, when the can finally breaks away from the gasket 70, the beer will not tend to agitate and foam. y

In the event that beer movesupwardly through bore 103 of collar 102 suiciently high to lift oat valve 98 into engagement with collar 91, the escape of gas from the can will be completely cut off so that no further liquid can flow downwardly through nozzle 52. Because only a very limited quantity of beer can be received in recess 64 before float valve 98 closes, any beer which moves downwardly from recess 64 through collar 102 when the can is lowered will not markedly overfill the can.

Because collar 102 only can be sealed by actual liquid, it serves as a highly satisfactory means for determining the height of filling of each can. Also, if it is desired to vary the height of filling, the collar 102 may have a gasket or washer 108 of different thickness tted thereabout to engage the sleeve 100 to thereby adjust the height of filling. If desired, the position of the collar 102 can be changed by simply rotating it to change its threaded relation with collar 100.

Another system of controlling the height of filling made practicable by the present invention is that of changing the pressure of compressed air or other fluid in the platform vlifting manifold 32. For example, if when a pressure of thirty-tive pounds per square inch is maintained in the manifold 32, a can C compresses the gasket 70 by 9/16 of an inch, an increase of about five pounds per square inch in manifold 32 will raise the can an additional 1A@ of an inch, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4, thereby lowering the filling level in the can by TA6 of an inch. Correspondingly, by reducing the pressure in manifold 32, the height of filling can be increased. As is illustrated in Figure 6, the line 36 leading from tank 34 to manifold 32 may be provided with a guage k106 whereby the pressure charged into the line 36 through valve 108 may be determined to thereby control the filling height. It will be understood that instead of tank 34, line 36 may be connected through a suitable fitting to a compressed air line leading from the machine through the central stationary post.

It will be noted filling nozzle 52, in addition to its function of delivering beer to container C, also serves as a displacement member. As a displacement member, the filling nozzle 52 determines to a limited extent the height of fill of the container when the vertical position of the container is changed relative to its sealing engagement with the filling head. The position of the vent collar 102 with respect to the lip of the container, as mentioned heretofore, controls the height of fill and it may be varied by use of the washer 108 or by changing the vertical movement of the platform lift 20 so that the container compresses to a greater or lesser extent the gasket 70. In the latter instance, nozzle 52 extends into container C a greater or lesser distance depending on the compression of gasket 70. If nozzle 52 extends into container C a greater distance, the displacement will be greater and the height of fill Will be less. On the other hand, if nozzle 52 extends into the container a lesser distance, the displacement will be less and fthe):

height of fill greater.

The terminology used in the specification is for Athe purpose of description and not of limitation, the scope of the invention being indicatedv in the following claims.

We claim:

l. In a container filling machine, a filling head element,

2. A container filling machine of the character de-. scribed in claim l wherein said compressible member is` annular and carried on the filling head element to surround said liquid ow nozzle.

3. A container filling machine of the charac-ter de scribed in claim l wherein said container supporting element moving means is fluid actuated and the pressure. of the fluid is adjustable.

4. A container filling machine of the character described in claim l wherein said container venting means; is vertically adjustable with respect to said filling head.

5. A container filling machine of the character described in claim l wherein said container venting means includes a fioat valve closed by rise of liquid.

6. In a filling head, a body including a valve lseat and a downwardly extending portion provided with a horizontal face, a filling nozzle projecting downwardly from the horizontal face, said body being provided with a liquid flow passage extending from the valve seat 'to said. nozzle, a container engaging gasket surrounding the horizontal face, said body being provided with a chamber opening upwardly from the horizontal face within saidv gasket, a gas flow passage extending from the chamber to the Valve seat, said body including a pair of passages extending from the valve seat and adapted to be connected respectively to a source of liquid and a source of gas, a valve rotatable on the valve seat to connect said liquid and gas ow passages respectively to the passages of said pair, a float valve in the chamber, and a collar defining the lower end of the chamber, said collar being provided with a restricated bore -and extending downwardly from the horizontal face of said body.

7. A container filling machine of the character de scribed in claim 6 wherein said collar has its lower end lying in a horizontal plane.

8. A cont-ainer filling machine of the character described in claim 6 wherein said container-mouth engaging gasket is compressible.

9. In a rotary filling machine, a group of filling elements, a group of container supporting elements, each of said filling elements including a liquid flow nozzle and a container venting means arranged to be closed by rise of liquid in a container associated therewith, each of the elements of one of said groups of elements including a container engaging member capable of compression within a substantial range, vertically movable means to move said container supporting means toward said filling head elements, and means to simultaneously control the vertical movement of all said container supporting elements to thereby vary `the compression of said bodily compressible members within said range and the height of filling of containers.

10. A container filling machine of the character described in claim 9 wherein said compressible member is annular and carried on the filling head element to surround said liquid flow nozzle.

ll. A container filling machine of the character demeinst scribed in claim 9 wherein'vsaid'container supportingele-y ment moving means is fluid actuated and thefpressure of the fluid is adjustable. j Y

' 12,. A container filling machine of the character `described in claim 9 wherein said container venting means is vertically adjustable with respect to said iilling head.

13. A container filling machine of the character described in claim 9 wherein said container venting means includes a float valve closed by rise of liquid.

14. In a container lling machine, a filling head, said filling head including a valve seat and a downwardly extending portion provided with a horizontal face, a lling nozzle projecting downwardly from the horizontal face, said body being provided with a liquid flow passage extending from the valve seat to said nozzle, a container engaging gasket surrounding the horizontal face, said container engaging gasket being capable of compression within a substantial range, said body being provided with a chamber opening upwardly from thel horizontal face within said gasket, a gas ow passage extending from the chamber to the valve seat, said body including a pair of passages extending from the valve seat and `adapted to be connected respectively to a source of liquid. and a source of gas, a valve rotatable on the valveseat to connect said liquid and gas flow passages respectively to the passages of said pair, a float valve in the chamber, a collar dening the lower end of the chamber, said collar being provided with a restricted bore and extending downwardly from the horizontal face of said body, and a container supporting platform, means to move said container supporting platform toward said lling head ele.

ment, and means to control the vertical travel of ,said last mentioned means to thereby vary the compression of said compressible gasket within said range and the height of iilling of the container.

15. A container filling machine of the character de.

venting means arranged to be closed by the rise of liquid Y in the container, one of said elements including a member having a container engaging sealing face, said sealing face being capable of vertical movement over a sub- Y stantial range with respect to said venting means, means to move said container supporting element vertically toward said filling head element, andrmeansrto control the vertical travel of saidlastgnamed means to therebytvary theY movement of the sealing face', of said kmemberwith respect to said ventingmeans within said range and the height of illingof the' container.

18. A .container Vfilling machine of the character described in claim 17, wherein said containerV supporting element moving means is fluid-actuated and wherein said control means is avalve -to vary pressure of fluid actuating said container supporting platform.

19. In a container` lling machine, a filling head element, a container supporting element, said filling head element including a liquid flownozzle and a container venting means arranged to be closed by the rise of liquid in the container, said iilling head elementV also including a member having a container engaging sealing face, said sealingface being capable of being moved over a substantial vertical range with respect to said venting means, means YtoV move one of saidtelements with respect to the other to thereby place a container in sealing engagement with said sealing face, and means to control the movement of said last named means to thereby vary the movement of the sealing face of said member with respect to said venting means within said range and the height of filling of the container.

20. In a container filling machine, a filling head element, a container supporting element, said iilling head element including la liquid ow nozzle and a means the p projection of which into said container determines thev height of ll, said lling head element also including a memberrhavinga container engaging sealing face, said sealing facebeing capable of being movedrover a substantial vertical range with` respect to said means projecting into said container, means to move one of said elements with respect to the other to thereby place a containerinrsealing engagementwith said sealing face, and means to control the movement of said last named means to thereby vary the movement of the sealing face of said member with respect to said means projecting into said container within said range and the height ofiilling of the container. e

References Citedin the YtileV of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSv Fischer et al. Q Oct. 5, 19,54'` 

